IN APPRECIATION FOR THEIR LIFE IN MAGIC
by Dennis Schick • Editor, The I.B.M. Broken Wand

July, 2008

DR. CHRISTOPHER S. FRINGS

Dr. Christopher S. Frings, 67, of Birmingham, Alabama, died July 3, 2008.  He held I.B.M. number 1511M, was a member of Ring 35, the Judge Arnold Drennen Ring; was a continuous member of I.B.M. since 1978; and was a member of the Order of Merlin, having been a continuous member for twenty-five years. A life-long native of Birmingham, he was a graduate of the University of Alabama, and received a Ph.D. in Clinical Chemistry from Purdue University. He was Director of Clinical Chemistry ad Toxicology at local clinical laboratories for twenty years, before becoming a full-time consultant and speaker in 1987. He was the author of over one hundred and fifty publications, and was a nationally-recognized speaker, as a member of the National Speakers Association. He also was widely known as "Chris Frings the Master Magician," appearing in many venues, including hospitals.  He was named the 2006 Volunteer of the Year at the local Children's Hospital. Frings is survived by his wife of forty-two years, Roberta; and children Michael Frings and Dr. Mary E. Stocken, as well as his mother, a sister, two brothers, and six grandchildren.

BILL TADLOCK

The Sweet Talking Southern Gentleman
By Phil Willmarth 

Bill Tadlock, Member of the Order of Merlin Excalibur (50 years continuous membership), former International Treasurer and Executive Committee member of this organization, a long-time magician and mentalist, died July 8, 2008. He was born June 17, 1929 to Lewis Bond ("LB") Tadlock and Louise Respass Tadlock in Washington, North Carolina. He graduated from Washington High School, attended the University of North Carolina for a year and a half, left to serve in the military as did so many of the "Greatest Generation," matriculated from East Carolina University with a B.S. degree in Business, and managed a six-week graduate course at Columbia University in finance.

He was also a member and past president of the Psychic Entertainer's Association.

He married Sally Harrell in 1951 and that union produced two children, Mary Tadlock and Bill Tadlock Jr. Bill went to work for a financial institution after college and somehow managed to stay employed at the same firm his entire working career, although one might not know that for they kept changing names as financial institutions are wont to do these days.

He retired as the Chairman and CEO for Bank of America Credit Corporation which became NationsCredit, the financial services subsidiary of NationsBank, with 110 branch offices in nine states and over $550 million in assets. Services included mortgage loans, personal consumer loans, retail and wholesale dealer financing and related insurance businesses. He was adjunct professor at the College of the Albemaiie, past president of the North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland Financial Services Trade Associations, is a certified AVA Analyst, and prepared and taught an eight-week course on Memory and Memory Training at the local college.

How did Bill get interested in magic and what has he done with it? Well, he had an aunt who worked for the Health Department and one of her co-workers showed grade-school-age Bill a coin trick. He was fascinated, so his aunt bought him a Magic Set for Christmas and the hook was set. He performed paid shows up to and through college to help pay for his education and magic habit. He kept up his interest in magic while in the army, practicing at night.

That habit continued, and his daughter, Mary remembers her dad always practicing after dinner. He would set up and "do a show for us ... my video was live," she told me. Actually, she thought that she and Bill, Junior could have set up a microphone and done the entire show, they knew every word he was going to say. She says, "His closer was 'Confabulation,'" and recalls that, as an eight-year-old, she always used the same three selections: "a pink gremlin that cost seventy-six cents."

Mary also recalls her Mom and Dad practicing much of the spring and early summer preparing to do a show at a Ring 199 Convention in Raleigh. She especially remembers a milk trick they worked on, which ended up with Mom spilling all the milk on Dad. That suggests a lot of milk, a lot of wiping up, and a lot of laundry! Comedy does take extra work.

Sally assisted Bill through the 50's and 60's, but retired from the act then. Bill worked quite well and often as a single into the 80's, until the pressures of his job became too much. Mary says her dad did at least 30 shows a year, and remembers being paid to fold and address brochures for him. He was a close friend of the late Dick Snavely, and a regular at Ring 199 meetings in Raleigh during the 60s and 70s before moving to Elizabeth City in early 1975.

Practice and rehearsal was still a part of Bill Tadlock's life: he, Gene Anderson, and lately, Bob Bloenk, met annually to work on their acts and new routines, giving each other support and constructive criticism. And, it is that kind of dedication that has made Bill Tadlock an excellent magician and mentalist.

For years, Bill would pop up regularly at magic conventions to renew old friendships and make new ones. And I, for one, am confident that they number in the hundreds. It is a pleasure to have known this long-time acquaintance, but relatively new (and, hey, relatively old) good friend here! For me, Bill Tadlock embodies what magic and the I.B.M. is all about ... a friend who was there for you if and when you ever needed him.

He is survived by his wife, Sally; a daughter Mary Mielke of Folsom, California and husband Jeff, a son, Bill Tadlock, Jr., of Valdosta, Georgia and wife Angela Davis Tadlock; a sister, Carolyn Thompson of Windsor, North Carolina; a brother, Milton Tadlock of Windsor, North Carolina, a granddaughter, Victoria Fawn Tadlock; and two step-grandsons, Luke Santos-Mielke and Christopher Burger. He is also survived by a host of "good buddies." Like Will Rogers, Bill "never met a man he didn't like." He was predeceased by a grandson, William Louis Tadlock.

[Adapted from the cover story, The Linking Ring, November,  2000. ]

LOUIS MARTELLE 

Louis Martelle (1927-2008)
British Ring President 1999-2000
Adapted from an article by Jeffrey Atkins

Louis Martelle has passed away at the age of 81. He had been a member of The British Ring since 1949 and throughout that time had been a supporter of and worker for the Ring. He started in magic at the age of eleven when he saw magicians at the local vaudeville theatre and managed to borrow Hoffman's Modern Magic from the local library. He performed for the local churches and private parties until he was fourteen, when he left school and joined Murray, the famous Escapologist, as an assistant.

He learned the basics of his trade in the six months he spent with Murray, and then branched out on his own as a single act, working at Theatres and Galas. Then came the war and he was unlucky in so far as, instead of placing him in the forces, he was made what was known as "A Bevan Boy."

This meant he was conscripted as being too young to be in the front line and was employed in a coal mine. During this period he still managed to perform his magic for troop concerts and other functions. At the end of the war, he saw the coming demise of the Music Hall and decided to leave the stage and work in industry. He resumed his studies, obtained his B.A. degree in Psychology and Social Sciences and in that capacity became a lecturer for employers' organizations.

After this, he turned to university life where he continued as a lecturer in Management Courses. His magical career continued all during this time and in 1950 he won the British Ring Shield in the early days of this competition. He has always given freely of his knowledge and services for any British Ring functions. His motto was that "You only get out of life what you put in," and he has certainly lived up to that principle. The British Ring can be proud to have honored a man who has devoted a major part of his life to the I.B.M. and The British Ring 25.

[Adapted from the Jeffrey Atkins' article in The Linking Ring • January 2000]

The funeral will be at the Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium on Thursday, July 17, 2008, at 12.00 midday. If any of you would like to send a card to Joan, I am sure that she would love to hear from you. The address is 'Magic View', 10 Arnold Avenue, Gleadless, Sheffield, S12 3JB

KEN DE COURCY

Ken De Courcy -  Broken Wand - by Bobby Warren

Ken de Courcy, a former president of the I.B.M. British Ring 25, a prolific author of magic books and inventor of magic effects, died July 24, 2008. He was 86. Magic was a part of de Courcy's life for 80 years, and it began when his parents gave him a conjuring set at age 6 in order to keep him busy. Little did they know the impact magic would have on him and the impact he would have on magic. He wrote mroe than 60 books on magic, edited Supreme Magic's magazine and even produced his own Coffee-Break Chronicle, a monthly magazine limited to 100 subscribers.

The late Billy McComb, a longtime friend of Ken and Sue de Courcy, once described his pal as an encyclopedia of practical magic, which was so evident in the pages of the Coffee-Break Chronicle. De Courcy was a premier ambassador of magic, helping many magicians improve their acts, routines and effects.

Leland Pennington, who became a friend of de Courcy's in the early 1990s when introduced by the late Ted Salter (who drew the caricatures for the Magic Castle's Walls of Fame), described de Courcy as a "magical seasoning" because his influences could be seen on so many magicians and effects.

De Courcy met and married his wife, Sue, in the 1960s. She survives.